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Tricks to make mornings productive?

thujone

thujone

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I've always been a night owl and never an early bird. It's really not that hard for me to get to sleep early and wake up early anymore, but the complete lack of morning productivity is really f'ing up my flow. I'd love to get up at 6am and go for a half-hour run to get blood moving then come back to a shower and breakfast and still have time left to do something else before my daily commitments start, but even on the rare occasion that I can do the waking up and running part I end up slipping into a time vacuum as soon as I step out of the shower and get where I need to get late despite the extra time I thought I've given myself. What the hell gives?!

Do any of you morning masters have good tricks I can use to reclaim lost morning time?

For some reason, I feel totally incapable of meaningful productive thought prior to mid-afternoon. I've always worked later shifts (not night shift, just starting in the afternoon) to take advantage of this but that's no longer an option and I really have to find some way to JOLT my brain into action and get my ass out of bed and doing things fast. I've tried manipulating my diet to help but in the end a light breakfast of fruit and yogurt fits me best physically. I drink a fair bit of coffee but it still doesn't light the fire I need under my ass to really be productive in the morning. I can't afford to be losing all this time, help!
 
When my alarm goes off, I roll over into a position where I physically cannot fall back to sleep. I lay in that position for a minute, then sit up and stretch. Stretching gets your blood flowing and helps you to push against that laziness you feel when you get up early. Do a bunch of stretches for maybe 10-15 minutes. By that point, you'll be rearin' to go for that jog.
 
If you'd wake up on your own early in the morning, surely you wouldn't feel foggy?
 
it's not so much the brain fog at waking up that's a problem as it is the slacking off after waking up.

Thanks SL, that sounds like a good idea! I stretch a lot but for some reason it never occured to try it on waking.
 
Here's what I do, and it works for me:

Set your alarm early - like way early. I have to be at work at 7:30, and my first warning alarm goes off at 4. The purpose of this alarm isn't to be like a gunshot at the beginning of a race, but it is to get my mind working. Approximately one hour later, after hitting the snooze button 5 times, I get out of bed and take a lukewarm shower. After I get out, I play the business/stock market news on my phone while I stay in the bathroom to get fresh. What this does for me psychologically is remind me that the world is alive and working, just waiting for me to join it. After this I will go straight downtown and walk around, checking out the buildings and getting my heart pumping. At about 6:30 am, I will unlock the doors to the shop and start preparing for business. And that's the moral: prep work is where it's at, if you want productivity to feel like recreation in the early morning.
 
I too have found that after my first morning activity I'll waste any time that could be wasted. The only way I found to stop this is not taking a break. I started doing my workouts at the gym (instead of the tracks, too cold out there) so I take my shower at the gym and hit the library as soon as I get out. If I do as much as stop for a snack I'll find a way to procrastinate my way back home to the fridge and/or to a cafe. So, that's it, don't give yourself that mid morning break. You can take a longer lunch break or even half an hour for reading before or after lunch.
 
after a run, i often feel so relaxed/pleased with myself that it stymies my productivity. you might try a different exercise that will leave you more pumped-up (maybe tabata push-ups or burpees?).

do you drink coffee/other mild stimulants?
 
you gotta pick some activity that will motivate you to get up immediately. before falling asleep, think of something like that and make the commitment to get that thing done as soon as your alarm goes off. no rolling around, just get up and do it. while doing my stretches at night i usually think of a few things that i really want to handle the next day.
 
yea i started doing the stretches in morning instead of running and stopped trying to take breaks. i got my tablet and an egg timer so i check the weather and news for 10 min then when the timer rings off to the shower then immediately starting on the next thing. thanks for the advice guys, it's helped!
 
i get my body up by eating a good brekkie, i get my mind up by watching an episode of some good telly while i am eating.

need to be up extra early to squeeze an hour episode (or two half hour ones), but i am far better with that than the extra sleep. also chinese green tea with brekkie hits the mark in terms of alertness.
 
You can have all of the motivation in the world, but if you're still really tired when the alarm goes off, the morning's not going to go optimally. You must start going to bed earlier if you want to have good, comfortable, productive mornings. You can't have your cake and eat it too. One or the other.

Morning sex was always sufficient to get me out of sleepy/groggy/angry mode and into "let's take on the world!" mode. However, that's not always an option.

I like to go have a coffee in a busy part of the city/area to start off the day. Like captainballs suggests, being around people already deep into a productive day can have a positive influence.
 
True about the sleep, I can't even think without at least 8 hours in me so that's the first matter sorted out of course. morning sex hmmmm *looks at pillow lustfully*
 
as much as i used the cherish my sleep when i was younger, 8 hours now is borderline too much sleep. this equates to more groggy than too little for me.

but then again i am getting long in the tooth i guess.
 
I have always needed a solid 9 hours of good, uninterrupted sleep. I feel more energetic and mentally alert when I get this amount of rest and I really notice a difference if I don't. My mood really suffers if I am lacking in sleep, too.

My partner only requires 7-8, and that's proof that we're all very different creatures physically, emotionally and psychologically. :)
 
In my experience more sleep does not always equal better sleep. I have to time my REM cycles so I either get 7 or 9 hours of sleep.

Coffee is a life saver.

Exercising in the morning definitely gets you going.

Sex/masturbation can help. Although they wake me up I feel unfocused after, all I want to do is cuddle haha
 
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